Recommend a starter kit for me please.

Before looking at kits--I highly suggest understanding your loads. Once you know your loads, you can size a system to support those loads. And then finally, compare kits (and piece part purchasing) to see what works best for you.

And looking at your loads--Conservation/alternative designs are highly suggested. Very roughly, off grid solar power (electric panels+electronics+batteries+maintenance) mean that costs over a 20 year service life can be on the order of $1 to $2+ per kWH--Or around 10x the cost of utility power...

Focusing on your design--Does this dog house+pad already exist? Can you plug in an extension cord and a Kill-a-Watt type meter and measure its energy usage?

If the system does not yet exist--Then alternative heating methods may make more sense. Using solar thermal panels + insulated tank + small water pump (or two) would probably be less expensive and a better do it yourself type project. This is a large home, but pretty much everything was DYI and worked well even in a cold climate:

Solar Shed and other Solar Thermal Links

Assuming the shed is well insulated (including the concrete pad)--Perhaps you can use solar electric panels to heat the pad (a few hours a day) and use the thermal mass to carry through for the next day or so (ride through bad weather).

More or less, solar thermal panels are usually 70-80% or so efficient... Compare that to solar electric panels that are ~15-17% or so efficient--So you need an ~5x larger surface area (solar electric vs solar thermal) to collect the same amount of energy.

How much sun you get (marine layer, shade from trees/building/etc. kill solar output, etc.) is also important... Say you are near Danbury Ct:
http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

Danbury
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 34° angle from vertical:
(Optimal winter settings)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
3.39	4.08	4.47	4.24	4.24	4.35
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
4.36	4.42	4.47	4.13	3.24	3.17

Presumably, you are doing this to keep your family member warm during the winter, you would have to plan on ~3 hours of sun per day... And may need backup heating (if you have a week of bad weather).

Also, remember that you need to protect against other failures too... For heating systems, it is not unusual for them to fail "hot"... You do not want to injure your dog with high temperatures--And give him/her the ability to move to different areas to find a comfortable temperature or go outside if too hot.

Anyway, some starting information.

-Bill

To design an off grid solar power system--Really need to know the electric loads... Starting with this guess at 40 Watts (thermostat controlled, so average power may be less):

https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Lectro-Soft-Outdoor-Heated-Medium/dp/B000ICKBCW

Lets say for 10 hours per night:

• 40 Watts * 10 hours per night = 400 WH per night

Using conservative design rules:

• 400 WH per night * 1/0.85 AC inverter eff * 1/12 volt battery bank * 2 days storage * 1/0.50 max discharge = 157 AH @ 12 volt battery bank

Make an insulated battery box on the ground (or even buried under ground) to keep the batteries above freezing--They will give you more energy if kept "warm".

And use a nice inverter with "sleep mode" like this (to save energy):

https://www.solar-electric.com/mosu300wasiw.html

Use 2x 6 volt @ ~200 AH golf cart batteries (cheap/relatively forgiving). 5% to 13% rate of charge, for full time off grid ~10% rate of charge minimum recommended (note--you do not need to get a 377 watt array exactly--+/- 10% is pretty much "the same" in solar):

• 200 AH * 14.5 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller deratings * 0.05 rate of charge = 188 Watt array (weekend/seasonal usage)
  
• 200 AH * 14.5 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller deratings * 0.10 rate of charge = 377 Watt array nominal
  
• 200 AH * 14.5 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller deratings * 0.13 rate of charge =490 Watt array "cost effective" maximum
  

And then there is the amount of energy per night, and how much sun you will get... Winter is tough in many areas:
http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

Kansas City
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 36° angle from vertical:
(Optimal winter settings)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
3.71	3.76	4.47	4.47	4.49	4.62
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
4.84	4.82	5.02	4.65	3.65	3.47

Now--To support a "needed load"--I would suggest only "scheduling" around 65 to 75% of your "predicted available solar energy... So, the solar array based on where you live and how much sun for deep winter:

• 400 WH per day * 1/0.52 off grid AC system eff * 1/0.65 scheduled loads * 1/3.47 hours of sun (Dec long term average) = 341 Watt array minimum

So--I would suggest somewhere around a minimum array of 341 to 377 Watts--And since you want to keep your family member warm--I would say >377 Watt solar array.

Or--If your doghouse is less than 100-200' away from the home/utility power--I would highly suggest trenching a conduit (or several conduits, plus water) to the doghouse. Longer term, it may be a cheaper/more reliable system.

-Bill